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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Appalachia

Rural Women's First-person Perspectives on the Role of Mental Health in Substance Use
Presents a study highlighting rural women's perspectives on the co-occurring mental health and substance use disparities among rural populations. Analyzes interviews with incarcerated rural women with co-occurring substance use and mental health symptoms.
Author(s): Claire Snell-Rood, Michele Staton, Athena Kheibari
Citation: Rural and Remote Health, 19(4), 5279
Date: 11/2019
Type: Document
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Building Interventions When Distress Is under Debate: A Case Study from Appalachia
Discusses the various forms of distress experienced by women living in Appalachia and the challenges for healthcare professionals seeking to create culturally acceptable methods of identifying distress and developing appropriate resources for recovery. Describes a 3-year program to identify and adapt an evidence-based culturally appropriate intervention for this patient population.
Author(s): Claire Snell-Rood, Ryan Jenkins, Keisha Hudson, et al.
Citation: Transcultural Psychiatry, 56(5), 918-946
Date: 10/2019
Type: Document
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Inclusive Public Health Preparedness Program to Promote Resilience in Rural Appalachia (2016–2018)
Describes a collaborative planning process for responding to public health emergencies in a rural Appalachian setting where citizens are more vulnerable to emergencies and natural disasters. Emphasizes the importance of including rural populations with access and functional needs in the planning process to create all-inclusive, all-hazards emergency response services.
Author(s): Jennifer Schroeder, Erin Bouldin
Citation: American Journal of Public Health, 109(Suppl 4), S283-S285
Date: 09/2019
Type: Document
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SIPsmartER Delivered Through Rural, Local Health Districts: Adoption and Implementation Outcomes
Highlights the success and challenges of local public health units implementing the SIPsmartER program, a 6-month evidence- and community-based behavioral intervention shown to effectively decrease adult consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, in rural Appalachian Virginia.
Author(s): Kathleen Porter, Donna Jean Brock, Paul Estabrooks, et al.
Citation: BMC Public Health, 19(1), 1273
Date: 09/2019
Type: Document
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Maternal Characteristics and Infant Outcomes in Appalachia and the Delta
Compares maternal characteristics and poor infant outcomes for women and children in the Delta and Appalachia regions with the rest of the United States. Includes charts showing distribution of births, preterm births, and infant mortality with data broken down by maternal characteristics such as race, ethnicity, and age.
Additional links: Supplemental Tables
Author(s): Anne Driscoll, Danielle Ely
Citation: National Vital Statistics Reports, 68(11)
Date: 09/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
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Report of Recommendations: Appalachian Regional Commission's Substance Abuse Advisory Council
Report outlines the recommendations of the ARC's Substance Abuse Advisory Council on designing and implementing a substance abuse recovery system in rural Appalachia. Details the need for workforce training and employment via support services post-treatment.
Date: 08/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Appalachian Regional Commission
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A Change-Management Approach to Closing Care Gaps in a Federally Qualified Health Center: A Rural Kentucky Case Study
Case study focused on application of the proactive office encounter (POE) model to understand how a rural Appalachian Kentucky Federally Qualified Health Center implemented changes to improve delivery of preventive care services, close care gaps, and reduce health disparities among patients.
Author(s): Angela L. Carman, Robin C. Vanderpool, Lindsay R. Stradtman, Emily A. Edmiston
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 16
Date: 08/2019
Type: Document
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Social Isolation and Loneliness: Insights from Rural Clinical Providers and Other Experts
Provides an overview of social isolation and loneliness and the factors, such as limited transportation options, that can contribute to these problems in rural areas. Includes discussion of social risk assessments. Features rural clinicians, researchers, and other experts sharing their perspectives on addressing these concerns.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 07/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Kentucky Community Fights Back against Cardiovascular Disease
Results of a study conducted in Appalachian Kentucky, exploring a program in which community health workers helped promote healthy eating, physical activity, stress reduction, and other activities to manage risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
Date: 06/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute
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Breathless and Betrayed: What is MSHA Doing to Protect Miners from the Resurgence of Black Lung Disease?
Provides a U.S. House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections hearing on the increase in lung disease among coal miners, particularly in the Appalachian states of Virginia, Kentucky, and West Virginia, and what the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) should do about it. Addresses the history of black lung in the U.S., black lung statistics, the impact of quartz exposure and ways to reduce it, and the finances of the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund. Includes testimony from the Government Accountability Office, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, United Mine Workers of America, University of Illinois School of Public Health, and others.
Additional links: Cecil Roberts, John Howard Testimony, Robert Cohen Testimony
Date: 06/2019
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: U.S. House of Representatives
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